This utility application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/460,762, filed Feb. 18, 2017, which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
There have been numerous attempts to roboticize the process of sharpening tools. In the food industry and, particularly in the meat processing industry, there is the requirement for the use of hundreds of sharp knives to cut and butcher meats. These knives must be kept sharp for the cutting process to be effective. As knives become dull or chipped in use, they must be removed from use and sharpened and shaped before being returned to the operation. The time and effort to sharpen such tools is considerable and requires highly skilled operators.
The present invention discloses an apparatus, a system, and a method for rapidly and accurately sharpening cutting tools integrating a commercial knife sharpener and a robotic operator which sharpens both sides of the knife cutting edge simultaneously.